Does dam parity affect the performance of ewe progeny born to 2-year-old ewes?
P. R. Kenyon A B, S. T. Morris A, H. T. Blair A, K. J. Stafford A A Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand. B Corresponding author. Email: p.r.kenyon@massey.ac.nz Abstract An increasing number of ewe lambs are being presented for breeding in New Zealand, resulting in more two-tooth ewes of second parity compared with the more normal first parity. The effect of this on the resulting ewe progeny is unknown but is of interest as they are potential replacement ewes. This study was designed to determine if parity of Romney two-tooth ewes had any effect on their ewe lamb progeny to 20 months of age. Two-hundred and fifty female progeny born to two-tooth dams, which had lambed as a ewe lamb (n = 97), failed to conceive at ewe lamb breeding (n = 79), or had not been presented for breeding as a ewe lamb (n = 74), were weighed at regular intervals. The progeny also had onset of puberty and two-tooth breeding an